More than £1 million's worth of cocaine has been discovered inside a shipment of face masks.
Border Force officers found some 14kg of the Class A drug in a van which was attempting to enter the UK via the Channel Tunnel from Coquelles, France, on Tuesday.
A box of 15 packages was found concealed inside the vehicle, which had been transporting protective face masks.
Samples from the packages were tested and confirmed as cocaine.
Ian Hanson, Border Force regional director for Coquelles, said: “This seizure shows the lengths drug smugglers will go to. It is despicable to think they would try and exploit the current situation in this way to get their dangerous drugs on to the UK’s streets."
The driver, a 34-year-old Polish national, was arrested and the investigation passed to the National Crime Agency (NCA). He is being held in custody for questioning.
The masks have been detained pending checks by regulators, the Home Office said.
NCA Dover branch operations manager Darren Herbert said: “This seizure is further evidence of the way criminal networks are attempting to exploit the coronavirus outbreak to their own ends, covering this load of drugs with what would seem like vital protective equipment.
“We are now investigating who was behind this attempt, but what is clear is that they have taken a substantial hit.
"At UK street prices this haul might have raised more than £1 million once adulterated and cut down – profit that they have now been denied.”
